After the Coma
by The Wicked Queen
Summary: Evil Charming story set after David wakes up from his coma in season one.
1. Chapter 1

_**Thursday, 3 February 2011**_

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Regina looked to the small baffled voice that came from the chair outside the hospital room. Henry sat there, his eyes confused and narrowed in suspicion. Daniel was at home asleep, quiet, sweet and obedient, where Henry had become the opposite lately.

"I could ask you the same question," she almost snapped.

Instead she bit her tongue and looked away the boy who refused to see himself as her son.

She walked to the glass wall and looked in. They'd just rushed him in by the looks of it. There were doctors and nurses swarming around him, fiddling with pipes and drips and needles. She watched as they thinned out, as the hospital staff steadily emptied out of the room until only Dr. Whale was there, asking David questions. He nodded and answered but Regina couldn't hear them. Whale replied, looked at his clipboard, then said something again and walked out.

Whale walked to her. "Madame Mayor," he greeted.

She turned so that Henry would only see her back and spoke lowly so that he couldn't hear her.

"How is he?"

"Amazingly enough..." He gave a small disbelieving laugh. "He's fine. Some scrapes and bruises from his 'midnight stroll' but other than that everything's in order."

She nodded and absorbed the news in silence, was about to ask another question when she heard: "What are _you_ doing here?"

_Like mother like son_, she thought bitterly. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave Emma a pointed look, indicating behind the blonde by jutting out her chin. She looked over her shoulder and winced at the sight of Henry. She turned back, her eyes wide and expression suddenly apologetic.

"Listen, he just ran off earlier and I swear I told him to go home-"

Regina held up a hand to cut off her rambling, ignored her and turned back to Whale.

"How long before he's released?"

He shrugged. "I'd suggest a few weeks physiotherapy but by the looks of things he probably won't need it. I'd say... about a week." He shrugged again. "At most."

A nurse came by and offered some forms to the Mayor. She accepted the clipboard and pen.

"He going home with you then?"

She nodded. "If he agrees." She hesitated. "May I?" she asked as she inclined her head toward David's room. The doctor nodded and Regina walked forward.

The room was made of glass so privacy was a pipe dream. Tomorrow she'd request a private room for him. He watched her as she approached him. Gingerly, Regina sat at the foot of the bed and faced him, her back to the glass.

"Hello, Mr. Nolan," she greeted, her tone neutral and expression polite. "I'm-"

"Regina," he said, cutting her off.

She composed herself quickly. "You remember. That's good," she said, forcing a smile. "How much do you remember?"

He frowned. "Why are you talking to me like that?"

"Like what?" she asked, faux curiosity as she tilted her head to the side.

"Like you don't know me. Like..." He looked around, features pinched in confusion and frustration. "Regina, what's going on?"

She steadied herself with a deep breath. "You've experienced some slight trauma. It's understandable that you're confused. You were in a coma-"

"For _twelve_ years. I know. I landed up here after the car accident. After... After our last argument. I know. I remember. So, can you please cut the crap and just tell me what's going on?"

He wasn't going to back down, she saw. There was a burning intensity in his dark blue eyes. His features were hard. She looked down at the forms and clipboard in her hands, and nodded. She sighed and looked up again.

"Fine." She stood. "I'm going to fill these out and when I get back, I'll answer any questions you have."

"You can answer them now," he growled.

She kept her face blank as she stared at him. He looked more like Charming now, with that almost sneer. His expression softened into frustration after a few seconds.

He was about to speak. She cut him off with an admission of: "I need a moment."

He nodded. She turned, saw Emma Swan looking at her, brows furrowed and arms crossed over her chest, through the glass, and left the room. She sat on one of the hospital chairs, far from her son and his birth mother, and completed the forms. It went quicker than she expected, not even five minutes. She returned it to the nurse who'd given up to her, then bought two cups of coffee and a cranberry muffin.

_Breathe_, she told herself as she made her way back to the room. _Calm down._

Henry was still sitting where he was when she'd arrived. Emma was next to him. The two were talking but stopped when they saw her.

_You're stalling, Regina_, she thought in a scolding voice as she went to them.

"Ms. Swan," she said, tone professional. "It's late. Would you mind driving Henry home?"

Her brows shot up in surprise. "Erh... S-sure," she said.

Henry eyed her suspiciously. She turned and went for the door, moving the cup holder and paper bag containing the muffin into one arm as she opened the door. David sat straighter and made to get off the bed to help her. She held up a hand. He stopped.

She walked inside and handed him a coffee cup and the paper bag. Regina pulled the chair closer to his bed and adjusted it so that her back was toward the glass again.

"Cranberry," he noted as he opened the bag.

It was his favourite, she remembered.

"Thanks." He took a sip of coffee and looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "You look exactly the same. I guess that's proof of _the curse_."

His tone showed he still didn't fully believe her. She bobbed her eyebrows and, lips pursed, took a sip of her own coffee. She nearly burned her tongue and hissed.

He chuckled. "Still drinking it black and burning?"

She wiped her lip then put on a wide grin. "Like my soul."

He snorted. A moment passed. He turned serious.

"Has it really been twelve years?"

She didn't answer, instead picked at the imaginary lint on her skirt.

"Regina," he prodded.

She sighed and looked over her shoulder. Henry was still there, still watching her, still had that same distrustful expression.

"There's a little boy outside," she said softly. He followed her gaze. "One of my sons." David's eyes widened. "I adopted them ten years ago."

"Them?"

"Him and his twin brother, Daniel."

He absorbed the news quietly, with small nods, sipping coffee then absently biting the takeout cup as he thought. He met her eyes, wanted to say something, then looked out the glass again. A small smile graced his lips.

"What's his name?"

She smiled, looked down, and said, "Henry."

"After your dad."

She nodded and wiped at the unexpected moisture forming in her eyes. "Yeah."

_**...**_

"Your mom knows the coma patient?"

Henry looked up, his face adorably scrunched up in confusion. "She's just his emergency contact," he said, even though he seemed unsure. "I... I remember we visited him a few times when Danny and I were smaller. Like... before first grade. I think."

Her brow shot up at this new information. Henry turned back to the window. He frowned. "They're talking about me."

She looked at the Mayor's back for a moment longer then back to Henry.

"Well, come on, kid. Gotta get you home."

He shook his head and continued watching them.

"Henry…"

She touched his head with a sigh. He didn't budge.

"It's been a long day, kid. Aren't you tired?"

As if on cue, he tried to hide a yawn. _Gotcha_, she thought with a smirk.

"No," he mumbled into his hand.

She smiled and ruffled his hair. "Come on."

He groaned and stood. He picked up his backpack and placed it on his shoulders. Emma turned to leave, saw Henry wasn't at her side, frowned and looked around to see him walking to the glass room.

"Kid," she whisper-shouted. He turned around. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "Saying goodnight."

_More like looking for an excuse to go into the room_, Emma thought, though she didn't try to stop him.

He turned around again with a cheeky smile of victory. It fell quickly. Brows furrowed, she followed his sight and saw the Mayor hugging the coma patient.

_**...**_

Henry moved before he thought, was inside the room before he'd processed even walking.

"...home," he heard Prince Charming say.

The Evil Queen nodded against his shoulder. "It hasn't really been home without you."

Henry froze at that. Felt an odd and unexpected hurt in his upper chest. The blonde man noticed him, smiled warmly and loosened his hold on her. Henry immediately disliked him.

But that was okay, he reminded himself. Some of the heroes were cursed to be bad people here. Prince Charming was... He was _hugging_ the Evil Queen so that meant he was bad here and would only be good again when the curse broke.

He took a step around the bed to her. "Mom."

Her spine stiffened and she turned to face him. "Henry. Where's Emma?"

Again that weird hurt thing in his chest. "Outside," he answered. "Can I wait with you instead?" Henry asked, putting out his bottom lip, knowing she wouldn't refuse, that she craved time with him.

She hesitated, Henry smirked internally. A smirk that fell when she shook her head. "No," she said apologetically. "It's late, sweetheart. Go home and get some sleep. You have school tomorrow."

His surprise turned to outrage and then anger. "Fine," he gritted out.

_**...**_

David chuckled after the boy stormed out. "He takes after his mother."

"He hates his mother," she muttered. "No, that's not true. He worships Emma. It's _me_ he hates."

"Emma?"

She looked up. "His birth mother." She hesitated. "And also the Saviour."

"The Saviour. You mean... M-my daughter?" She nodded. He leaned back. "Wow." He laughed a bit. "Well... Th-That makes things... kind of... _messy_."

She snorted. "That's an understatement." They spent the next few moments in silence, then it spilled from her mouth, "I've been horrible to him lately. _So _horrible." David looked at her questioningly. "He figured it out," she explained. "The curse. Who everyone is. Who _I _am."

"Who you were," he said firmly.

She shook her head, tears fell at the movement. "I tried to convince him he was crazy. I sent him to a shrink." Her head fell into her hands. "Oh my god, what is wrong with me? I called him delusional. I called my son insane."

David's shock grew with every word. He wanted to ask about the other one, about Daniel, but a sob shook her shoulders. He touched her back, brought her to his chest again and held her for a bit. She may look exactly the same, but this was not _exactly the same _woman he fell in love with.

"You were afraid... To tell him the truth."

"I _am_ afraid," she corrected. "The last person I was completely honest with ended up in a coma." He felt her tears seep onto his chest through the thin material of the hospital gown. "I'm just like her," she whispered.

"No." He shook his head. "No, you're not."

She looked up at him. Her eyes flicked between his. She calmed at whatever she found there and breathed in relief before pressing her head firmer against him. He rubbed her back and leaned down to inhale her scent.

Different shampoo, he noted. Same perfume.

A few minutes passed. She shifted, looked at him and brought her hand up to his chest over his heart. She curled her fingers over it, watching his face for his reaction. _Heart-ripping_, he thought with a scoff. He nearly sighed in irritation. He brought his hand over hers and kissed her temple.

"You need to tell him," he said against her head. He could feel her unwillingness and dread. She nodded reluctantly. "Does the other one know? Daniel?"

She put her head back against his chest. "He uh... I heard the two of them arguing one day. Henry was going on and on about the curse, about the Evil Queen, and how they had to save everyone from me. Daniel..." She wiped at her eye and looked away, voice emotionless. "Daniel said he didn't care whether or not the curse was real. Whether or not I was evil. Because..." She took a shaky breath. "Because I was his mom."

"Sounds like a good kid," he offered after a few moments.

She nodded. "David, can we…" She took a deep breath. "Can we please talk about something else?" She sounded like she was trying not to cry.

"Okay." He lifted the paper bag and took the cranberry muffin out of it. "Want a piece?" he asked, offering it to her.

She broke off a small piece and they switched to lighter topics.

_**...**_

Henry was sulking in the passenger seat, upset and angry at the world. She thought back to Boston. How it was his brother who was in this mood where he was talkative and excited. Henry snapped at her earlier when she told him to put his seatbelt on.

_The teenage years are going to be great_, she thought, rolling her eyes. The teenage years... _Am I even going to be here for those? _Emma wondered.

If Regina had it her way, she would have been driven out of town by police escort and banned from ever returning. They really needed to have a civil conversation about that one of these days she decided.

She pulled up on Mifflin street and drove to house 108. Henry undid his seatbelt and left in a huff. Emma sat for a moment then killed the engine and got out the car.

"Kid. Wait up." She jogged up to him and put an arm around his shoulders.

He looked up, confused, but didn't shrug her off, so she smiled and took the key from his small hands. She unlocked the door and imagined what their life would have been like had she kept them.

She'd slug back home after a long day, the two of them yawning by her side, after she picked them up from their babysitter, and then she'd open the door, walk them upstairs to their room, tuck them in and maybe tell them a story or just watch her twins sleep for a bit.

Henry frowned when she walked with him to his room.

"Go put on your PJ's."

"Are you gonna stay?" he asked, cautiously optimistic.

She smiled at the idea but shook her head. "Just to tuck you in."

His face lit up, he grabbed a pair of pajamas and ran into the bathroom across the hall. Emma sat on his bed and looked around. Nice room. Colourful and bright. A lot of toys and comic books and novels.

She'd taken Henry claims of evil without much proof, especially after the Mayor tried to frame her, but she saw another side to the bitchy woman tonight and had begun to wonder if maybe evil _was_ a bit extreme. Harsh, defensive and stuck-up was true, but maybe _evil_ was an overstatement.

Henry bounded out and jumped onto his bed. Emma smiled at him and pulled back the covers for him to crawl under.

He smiled. "Night Emma."

The illusion broke and her smile became smaller. She was Emma, not 'Mom.'

"Night kiddo."

She ruffled his hair then pulled back.

He frowned. "Aren't you going to kiss my head?"

"Y-yeah," she said quickly. She leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to his temple.

He yawned sleepily and turned to face his window. He curled up like a little kitten. She got up, turned off his light and shut the door.

What if he preferred it parted, she wondered, and opened it again. She left it parted so that the bathroom light would shine through. What if he slept with the door closed? What if he was afraid of the dark? Or thought up monsters? What if he turned in his sleep and the bathroom light woke him up? What if he had a nightlight he usually used? Or a favourite toy? And what about Daniel? What if he was a light sleeper? What if this noise woke him up?

All these questions emphasized one simple truth: she didn't know. She didn't know any of those things. Emma. She was Emma. Not _Mom_.

_**...**_

"I need to go home," she said regretfully, detangling herself from him.

"No." His arms tightened. "Stay."

"Visiting hours ended two hours ago," she chuckled. "I have to get home." He made a face. "For the boys," she reminded.

His lips pulled together in what could only be described as a pout.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she promised.

"You will?" he asked skeptically.

She sighed. This wasn't the first time she'd broken a promise or gone against her word.

"Yes," she said firmly, pulling herself from those memories. "I'll bring you a cup of cream and sugar with a dash of coffee."

"Some people actually prefer their coffee not to scald their tastebuds."

She rolled her eyes and stood. "Goodnight David."

She was by the door when he asked, "Don't I get a goodnight kiss?"

She swallowed down her mild and irrational fear and turned, a practiced and slightly teasing smile in place.

"Not tonight, shepherd."

"What if I asked nicely?" he asked, giving her a smile that was too similar to her sons'. He batted his eyelashes and dramatically sighed out, "Please."

She shook her head and walked forward. She leaned down and took his face in her hands. She hesitated.

"Goodnight David," she said again, a whisper against his forehead before she pressed a lingering kiss to it.

He held her elbows. "Not what I meant," he breathed in deeply, "but I'll take it." He tilted his face upward and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight Regina. I love you."

"I... I..." She was struggling to form the words. "David, I-"

"It's okay. I know."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Friday, 4 February 2011**_

A grin spread out over his face when he spotted her. "There you are."

David hopped up from the bench to greet her as she approached. He reached forward and hugged her. Regina mumbled out a soft apology against his shoulder. Her grip tightened momentarily and he felt her take a shaky intake.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly.

She nodded and pulled back quickly. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

She gave a small smile and he felt himself relax. He took her hand and they began walking through the gardens in the hospital vicinity. She was quiet, seemed stuck in her head. He bumped her with his shoulder.

He attempted conversation. "No coffee..."

"I forgot," she said, as if just remembering. Her tone was apologetic. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "No biggie. But…" He smirked a bit. "You are kinda late. Whatever happened to punctuality, Madame Mayor?"

"I said I'm sorry."

He stopped walking and frowned at her defensiveness. She slowed to a stop and faced him with an abashed look. She let go of his hand. Her eyes flicked down. David took her hand back calmly.

"Regina..." He sighed and bent to press a kiss to her hand. "What's wrong?"

She continued looking down. He followed her gaze, to their hands, and sensing her discomfort, awkwardly let hers go.

"Regina," he called softly.

He ducked his head a bit to catch her eyes. Dark orbs flicked up. Something clicked behind them. She shook her head. "I can't do this," he heard her say under her breath.

She met his eyes, and opened her mouth to speak but before she even worded it, he knew she was going to say some biting comment to push him away or make up an(other) excuse about why they shouldn't be together.

He'd distracted her with light touches on her arms and hands at the hospital, with soft words and gentle kisses to her palms and knuckles. This time he stepped forward, right into her personal space. She sucked in a barely audible breath and tilted her head to look at him.

"No more lies," he said, a note of command in his tone. "Whatever you're about to say, Regina... No more lies."

Helplessness passed over her features and she looked away. She took a step back and put her hands in her pockets.

"My boys… Henry," she corrected. She trailed off for a few seconds. "He isn't comfortable with you moving in."

His brows shot up in surprise. "I wasn't expecting that," he said honestly. He thought it over for a bit. "But I think I get it though. Having some strange guy move in when it's only been the three of you... No little kid would approve of that. Maybe later down the line when they're more comfortable with-"

She shook her head. "He isn't going to be comfortable with it, David," she said. "With… With us being together."

He didn't miss the way she said _he_. It seemed like Daniel was fine with this. But Henry wasn't.

"Why?"

She didn't answer. He caught a glimmer of guilt and frustration in her eyes and realization dawned on him.

"What, because of the curse?" David asked incredulously. "Because of who we were?" She looked down again and nodded. He scoffed. "Tell him to get over it."

Her head snapped up. Her expression changed to hard professionalism, as if he had just crossed a line.

"David, if it comes to a decision between you and Henry-"

"You'll choose him," he finished for her, slightly impatient. "I know. I wouldn't ask or expect you to do otherwise, Regina. But..."

David hesitated. He didn't know his limits now that things had changed. He took time to think and worded his response very carefully.

"Regina… There are certain things he shouldn't get a say in-"

She cut him off immediately. "My sons," she said firmly, "get a say in decisions that affect them and this, us..." She gestured between them. "This definitely affects them." She lifted her head and smoothed of her blazer. Mayoral mode. "That being said, I don't think this-"

"You're breaking up with me?" he asked, voice baffled and confused.

Her only response was to stare at him with an expressionless face. He shook his head, infuriated that she try the business like route of ending things between them.

He went for a more direct approach and asked, quite bluntly, "Because one of your kids told you to?"

He considered it a victory when anger showed through her mask. When she gave him that cold look again.

"No," she said through clenched teeth. "I am ending this because I want to regain my sons trust. I want a chance at a relationship with them after this curse breaks."

"And if it doesn't?" he challenged. "If the curse doesn't break? If it-"

"It will."

Regina tensed up when an elderly woman and her physiotherapist walked past them. She straightened her spine and rolled her shoulders back. David gave the younger woman a tight smile in response to her polite greeting of, "Good morning."

"It will," Regina said again, voice lower now. She looked at him thoughtfully. "This is probably for the best. Ending things peacefully before you remember and-"

"Nothing's going to change how I feel about you. After everything you've told me... After... The vault."

She stiffened and he regretted his words, wanted to take them back, but needed to make her see and believe that he wasn't going anywhere. That was her main fear while they were together and over time, he'd alleviated it. But it seemed in his absence it had grown again, like a weed.

"_I'm still here._ There's nothing that's going to make me hate you. I'm here," he said desperately, half reaching for her. She took a small step backward. His hand fell to his side helplessly and he swallowed. "Regina, doesn't that count for something?"

She didn't respond. Not for several moments. And when she did, it was not to his question.

"I've hired someone to make the cabin habitable again. I haven't used it many years," she explained at his questioning look.

A moment passed. She shook her head. To get rid of the memories that came with mentioning the cabin, he assumed. He bit down a smirk as he thought of picking grass from her hair as they laid in front of the fireplace.

"I'll have your things moved there from the basement."

Her voice was like a shock of cold water, dragging him from warm memories to an icy present, from a smiling Regina to one who now wore her mask around him.

_It's not fair_, he thought with childlike petulance.

"You still kept them?" he asked, voice purposely shocked. "Thought you'd have thrown it out like you did with the-"

"I said I was sorry about that," she exclaimed, eyes wide with sincerity and surprise. "David-"

"Just..." he shook his head. "Just go." He was tempted to add, "Run like you always do," but didn't.

And instead of watching her walk away, he turned and left. She'd done it enough times before.

_**...**_

"Kid!" she exclaimed, eyes wide in surprise at finding him at her front door.

"Hey Emma," he greeted with a toothy grin.

Henry marched into the apartment behind her, dragging an oversized bag along with a backpack that was stuffed to the max on his shoulders.

"What's all this?" she asked with a slight laugh.

The oversized bag hit the ground with a thud as he dropped it by the door. Emma winced at the sound. He dumped his backpack next to it and grinned at her.

"Guess what?" he said mischievously.

Suspicious now, Emma crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at the ecstatic boy in front of her.

"What?" she asked cautiously.

His smile became even wider. "I'm gonna live with you now."

Her smile faltered. Emma gaped. Her expression turned to horror the longer she stared at him. "W-what?"

"I'm living with you from now on."

He ducked past her, much like he had in Boston, and skipped forward to the kitchen. She turned in time to see him reach for a bottle of orange juice.

"Woah woah!"

She rushed forward and grabbed the bottle from him. Emma put it back and closed the fridge, unintentionally slamming the door in her haste.

"What do you mean you're living with me? Where's your mom? Does she know you're here?"

Mary-Margaret came out of her bedroom and looked between the two, confused at the sudden noise in her usually quiet apartment.

"What's going on?" she asked, carefully eyeing Henry's bags by the door.

"I'm moving in with my mom," Henry told her excitedly.

"Oh no, you're not!" Emma said immediately, ignoring the 'M' word for the moment.

She was on the verge of panic, a note of hysteria in her voice, and green eyes unusually wide. The Mayor was going to kill her. As if on cue, her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and laughed, somewhat nervously, at the caller ID. Luck was not on her side, it seemed. Shakily she answered the call.

"H-hello?"

"Is he with you?"

Her voice was cold and dark, monotonous. It stilled Emma into silence.

"Ms. Swan," she sighed out impatiently on the other end. "My son is distraught because his brother has left home, again, might I add, and expected him to follow. Now, I'm only going to ask you this once more: Is he with you?"

Her breath wooshed out in a guilty admission of, "Yeah." She nodded and looked at Henry. "Yeah, he's here."

Henry marched forward and grabbed the phone from her hand. She yelped and tried to take it back.

"Kid-"

"I'm staying here," he yelled angrily into the phone. "I'm going to live with my _real_ mom!"

Silence erupted in the apartment after Henry's outburst. Emma and Mary-Margaret each looked at each other, stunned.

_**...**_

"Mom?"

She jumped when she saw him by the door leading to her study. Regina wiped quickly at her eyes and pulled the phone from her ear. The call had ended minutes ago but she'd been shocked and just sat there, silent tears streaming down her face.

"Daniel," she said, voice slightly hoarse. "How long have you been standing there, sweetheart?"

He looked at her, was about to answer, but decided against it and came closer instead.

"Is Henry coming home?" he asked anxiously.

Her eyed shut momentarily and Regina shook her head slowly. "Not tonight, sweetheart."

She gave him what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, but couldn't possibly have been by the concern that appeared in his eyes. Daniel came closer and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him immediately and put her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, mom."

She breathed out shakily, eyes damp with fresh tears, and kissed the side of his head. "I love you too, baby."

Regina pulled back and held his face in her hands. She saw more of Emma Swan in Daniel's face, the green eyes and more angular features, but he was all hers. She kissed his nose, which had him scrunching his face up with a whined, "gross," that had her laughing.

"Did you finish all your homework?"

He shook his head. "No, you said you'd help me with my math," he reminded.

She stood from her chair. "I did, didn't I? Why don't you sit in the kitchen while I prepare dinner and I'll help you as I cook?"

He took her hand. "Okay."

"Go get your books," she said, shooing him toward the staircase.

"It's already in the kitchen."

Entering the kitchen, she saw that he made a section for himself at the island counter. He neatly moved all the ingredients to the one side of the counter and placed his books on the other.

"Figured you'd suggest that," he said with a smirk as he went to sit on a stool at the counter.

She touched his head with a smile as she passed him. "You know me too well, my little prince."

_**...**_

He couldn't believe the Evil Queen had just let him stay with his mother. He expected her to show up, demanding to take him back. He expected her to drag him away and make him go back to her. But she didn't. And he was safe now. He had the Saviour to protect him.

Henry still couldn't believe it. He was going to live with the Saviour and Snow White. He was going to live with his real family.

A grin broke out on his face at that thought. He turned quickly, wanting to share this news with his brother, but Daniel wasn't there. His smile faltered.

His family wasn't complete. Not yet. He had to get Snow White back with Prince Charming. Then he had to get his brother away from the Evil Queen. And find their father. Maybe he could start looking for him tomorrow. He'd just ask Emma about him and-

Emma? Henry frowned. She was his mom, his _real_ mom, why did he still call her Emma?

Henry didn't worry too long about that, simply decided to start calling her 'mom' instead of Regina. He tried it out now.

"Mom," he called.

He was sleeping in Ms. Blanchard's upstairs room. _Grandma's upstairs room_, Henry corrected himself. Emma's- _Mom's_ footsteps were slow on the stairs. He smiled when he saw her. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and she had on a loose grey sweater and blue flannel pajama pants. She stopped at the stairs and looked at him.

"You need anything, kid?"

He shook his head and opened his arms for a hug. She came closer and crouched by his bedside.

"Night Mom," he said, hugging her.

She stiffened against him then let him go. Henry laid down and pulled the blanket up to his chin. She looked at him, eyes scanning over his face. She was biting her lip. Brows furrowed in confusion, he patted her hand to get her attention.

"What's wrong?"

She looked at him. "Nothing," she dismissed quickly. She kissed his forehead. "Goodnight Henry."

He smiled sleepily as he watched her walk down the stairs. He was _finally_ home. He was finally with his _real_ family.

A burst of static came through on his walkie-talkie and then: "Henry, over. Henry, can you hear me? Over."

He grabbed it quickly. "Danny, you copy?"

Static for a few seconds and then: "... mmhm whe..."

"Danny? Over."

"Hen... om's br..."

"What?" he asked, sitting up. He was worried now. "Daniel?"

More static. "Sorry. Can you hear me now?"

His shoulders sagged in relief. "Yeah. Why's the walkie-talkie acting weird now?"

"Dunno." There were some rustling sounds. "Did you know mom owned a cabin in the woods?"

"What? No. Cool!"

"Yeah." He could hear the smile in his brother's voice. "We're gonna go there tomorrow. You wanna come with? Since you're sleeping over at Emma's?"

Henry's features hardened. "I'm not _sleeping over_, Danny. I'm moving in. I'm going to live with Emma- with our _real mom _now." A few seconds passed. He groaned. "Can you hear me? Is the walkie-talkie weird again or something?"

"No. No, I can hear you. I just... Henry, you're being childish."

Henry frowned, was about to inform him that they _were_ children, but his brother spoke again.

"Mom misses you. You really hurt her this morning with all that stuff you said. And then you left and... You _really_ hurt her," he said again.

Henry scoffed. "She's the Evil Queen. Nothing-"

There was a click on the other end and Henry knew Daniel had turned his walkie-talkie off. He scowled and shoved it back under his pillow before laying down again.

_I don't have to save Daniel_, he thought bitterly.

He could stay in the Evil Queen's clutches forever, Henry decided. Daniel liked it there.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Saturday, 5 February 2011**_

Regina awoke with Henry's screeches in her ears. She shot up in bed, panting. Her dark eyes shot frantically around her. She recognized her bedroom and calmed. Her breathing slowed.

She wouldn't be able to go to sleep again, she knew at once, so she looked to her left, at the alarm clock at her bedside. It was early, she saw with a groan. And the boys usually slept late on the weekends. _Boy_, she corrected.

Henry's cries of, _"You're evil!"_ came back then. His shrieks from the previous morning. _"How can you do this? You're ruining their lives! He's supposed to be with Snow White, not you! You're the Evil Queen!" _

Her conversation with David at the hospital was the last nudge she needed to be completely honest with her sons. And it backfired. _Too typical in life to be shocking_. Her lips pursed at that last thought. Regina pushed the covers aside to get started on her day.

_**...**_

None of the lights in the hallway were on. None of the curtains were open. And Mom wasn't in her bedroom.

Daniel found that odd. Especially at seven in the morning. Mom usually woke up early, even though she let him and Henry sleep till nine.

He couldn't really sleep without his brother in the house. They had different bedrooms since they were three, and they were really far from each other, but... it... It felt weird.

He'd struggled to fall asleep, then had weird dreams that had him waking up throughout the night. He'd given up hope of rest and just stayed up after the last dream/nightmare - he didn't know, he couldn't remember. He read for a bit, not wanting to disturb his mother, but now he was bored. And also kinda hungry.

He wondered around the house until he reached the stairs to the basement. There was light coming from there. Hand on the railing, he walked down the stairs.

"Good morning, Daniel."

He jumped at her voice. He saw a head of dark hair behind some boxes in the corner.

"Morning," he said carefully.

He didn't know what mood she was in, and he didn't want to get the backlash of it if it was a bad one. She looked up and her instant smile calmed him. He hopped down the last few steps and walked around the boxes to get to her.

"Watcha doin'?" he asked.

For someone who was such a neat-freak about everything else, his mother was unnaturally disorganized when it came to the basement and garage. He told her that once. She'd laughed then said they'd clean it, then gave up halfway, and instead they ended up moving the stuff around so that it became a more organized mess.

She hummed thoughtfully. "I _was_ moving boxes," she said.

He plopped down next to her and crossed his legs.

"Now... I'm..." She hummed in contemplation and turned to look at him. "I'm thinking... Maybe we should just stay home today, honey."

Daniel frowned. His eyes flicked to the book in her hands. It was a photo album. She looked at it too. He scooted closer.

"What's that? Can I see?" He held out his hands.

Her fingers flexed over it momentarily, possessively. He waited for her to say no. To say anything really. But she didn't. She passed it to him without a word.

His eyes lit up and he smiled a bit. Daniel opened the photo album and looked through the photos slowly, taking each one in with a contemplative look.

Most of the pictures were taken indoors, in some cabin - probably the one she told him about - and outdoors in the forest when it was snowing. He paused on a picture of his mom and a blonde man. It was a close-up. He was kissing her cheek. She was laughing, her eyes were closed.

He tapped on the photo. "You look really happy here, Mom." He turned the book to her.

A smile tugged at her mouth as she said, very softly, "I was."

He looked at her long enough to see the smile turn sad and regretful. Daniel snapped the book shut and sprung up. "Then we can't stay home today," he announced. "We have to help Mr. Nolan move into the cabin." He looked at the boxes. "And some day we _have_ to clean out this room."

She laughed a bit at that. "Some day," she delayed, standing up. "I already moved all the boxes we need to take over there." She pointed near the stairs.

He followed her finger. "Okay."

"Breakfast?" she asked suddenly, too bright to be casual.

He got it immediately - she wanted to leave, and didn't know how to without being weird about it. He played along by nodding.

"Waffles," he tried.

She'd been... Different since her... Daniel decided to call him her friend. She'd been different since her friend woke up from the coma.

It felt like she was walking on eggs around them, with Henry mostly. Things she would usually scold them for went unsaid. They had less chores than usual. And she hadn't threatened to take all their shoes away if they left them on the stairs again.

All the teasing and causality, their easy-going sometimes difficult relationship, had disappeared. Henry took advantage of this by running away to spend time with Emma. Daniel used it to get snacks and toys she usually wouldn't get him. It was wrong, he knew, but... She'd snap out of it eventually, and he didn't want to regret wasting an opportunity.

She touched his head as they walked to the stairs with an amused hum.

"You had pancakes drenched in syrup yesterday so... no. How about something healthy today? Like fruit salad?"

_Defeated_, he thought with a sigh. They made it back up the stairs.

"What about Belgium chocolate waffles?" He asked, spinning around to her excitedly. "With the chocolate chip dip?" She raised a brow and gave him a pointed look. "What?" he exclaimed. "Chocolate is healthy! It's made of cocoa beans!"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, Daniel."

_**...**_

"Agent Viper?" called a voice from the walkie-talkie. "Come in, Agent Viper."

Henry had slammed it on the kitchen counter before rushing out the door with Mary-Margaret about five seconds ago. Emma laughed at the thought of a kid being so excited about a trip to the grocery store.

"Henry?" Daniel called, dragging out the "ree" part of his name.

She lifted it off the counter with a small mischievous smile and said in a playfully serious voice, "Agent Viper is unavailable. Is this in relation to the encrypted codes you were sent to retrieve?"

"Emma!"

She could just see the surprised and excited smile on his face. "Hey, kid," she laughed. "How've you been?"

"Good." Static shuffling. "Oh, hey, I heard about your job. It's awesome."

"Thanks." She chuckled at his enthusiasm. "I wouldn't say awesome, but-"

"Are you kidding? You get paid to spend the entire day at the pet shelter! It is awesome!" he said again, his enunciation of each word so carefully precise it made her laugh again.

"We tried to get mom to get us a puppy last Christmas, but... well, we don't have a puppy so that's pretty self-explanatory." She chuckled at the big word. "Maybe you could get us one," he suggested mischievously. "As a birthday present."

"Your birthday's not for another three weeks," she said, deflecting her focus from the fact that it would be the first gift she'd ever gotten them, the first birthday she'd spend with them.

"Please?" he whined.

She bit her lip in thought, and deterred him with another question. "Why were you looking for agent Viper?"

"Oh... y- krrrr..." Static noises again. "Fllllllllll... P- gop."

Emma hit the walkie-talkie with the flat of her palm. The noise cleared up after a few seconds.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. We're going to see Mom's cabin. I told Henry about it last night. I wanted to know if... maybe... If he changed his mind about not going with us."

She felt her expression contort to sympathy at his hesitant yet optimistic tone. Emma gathered that there was conflict between the boys, and that it started when (or probably before) they found her in Boston, like they thought they had to choose between her and Regina. Which wasn't something she wanted, and by her interactions with Daniel, she knew he felt the same. But Henry... He didn't mind choosing. Which Daniel disagreed strongly with. And, like their mother, he was not afraid to voice his opinion.

"I dunno, kid," she sighed. "I'll ask him when he gets back from the store with Mary-Margaret."

He was quiet on the other end for a total of twenty seconds before he mumbled out a small and disappointed, "Okay."

"I'll talk to him," she promised. He didn't answer for a full minutes and she found herself saying, "Actually you know what... He's going with you. What time are you leaving?"

"Really?" She could her the excitement in his voice. "Around nine, I think."

"Great," she grinned. "Should I drop him off-"

"No," he said quickly. "We'll come to you guys. I haven't seen your place yet."

Technically it was Mary-Margaret's place, she was only renting a room, but his excitement was too pure to ruin so breathed out an, "Okay," and said, "See you in an hour."

"Thanks! Bye Emma!"

_**...**_

Never before had she used this line, and never before had she understood why parents got pissed enough to use it. But now she did. And boy, oh boy, did she owe the Mayor an apology for judging her parenting skills.

"Because I said so!"

The shocked look on Henry's face was worth the guilt she felt at snapping at him. She took advantage of his silence and spoke before he had a chance to continue with his little rant.

"You're going because your _brother_ practically _begged_ you to, because your mother wants you to, and because... _I said so_."

His jaw tensed and he crossed his arms over his chest. He jutted out his chin. An eerie feeling came over Emma when she realized he looked just like Regina standing like that.

"No," he daringly spat out. "No, I'm not, and _you_ can't make me."

_**...**_

"It's pretty far from town."

David looked around the thick forest surrounding them. The cabin stood in a small clearing with a gravel road leading up to it. His lungs burned from the cold and clean air. He breathed it in deeply, glad for a change from the hospital.

"A fifteen minute drive isn't that far," he said to Graham. He grabbed his bag from the back of the cruiser. "Thanks for the ride."

Graham looked at him through the passenger window and nodded before he drove off.

David slung his overnight bag (filled with donated clothing items and toiletries) over his shoulder and stepped toward the cabin.

He shouldn't have, but the hurt and spiteful part of himself, expected her to have just left his boxes out on the porch by the door. But the porch was clear. It looked recently cleaned too. The last time he'd been here, it was winter and he knew the mess all that the snow created.

Shaking off thoughts of dirt and dust, he walked up the two steps and pulled his key out his pocket to unlock the door. It was already open. His suddenly alert senses were soothed by the memory of Regina mentioning hiring someone to clean out the place.

All the windows were open and the smell of cleaning products permeated the air.

"Hello?" he called into the cabin.

He walked forward a bit and paused at the fireplace. Memories of low flames and soft kisses came back then. The thought of a stranger being in here, touching everything - even if to clean - suddenly unsettled him. It felt... wrong.

"David?"

He spun around at her voice, sure he was imagining things now. She stood there, looked just as confused as he felt. He looked over her attire: white sneakers, black leggings and a red sweatshirt. Her hair was tied back.

He set his bag down. "Hey."

"Hey?" She said unsurely. Her eyes flicked to the bag and back to him and she frowned. "They released you early."

"Yeah." He nodded to the slight question in her tone. "I pointed out that they were basically just harboring an able-bodied man against his will and then well, uh... they let me go."

"Able-bodied?" she chuckled.

David looked around to distract himself from the fact that the source of his frustration and heartbreak was right in front of him. An, "I miss you," was on the tip of his tongue.

Instead he asked, "What are you doing here?"

She pushed her hands through her hair, and looked around with her brows furrowed, as if trying to figure that out herself. She looked back at him with a small shrug and said, "Cleaning," as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's not what I meant," he said. "You can't break up with me then show up here like nothing's-"

"Last I checked this place belonged to both of us," she cut in, crossing her arms over her chest.

He took the same stance as her. "I never said that." David fought an eyeroll at the predictability of a scoff leaving her lips. "It's not fair of you to be here." His vulnerability must have shown on his features, because not a moment after he said it, hers changed into guilt.

She shook her head and let out a tired sigh. It was a "You're right," that she'd never verbalize.

"What are you doing here?" he asked again.

She looked to the side, out the window and spoke without looking at him. "You weren't supposed to be released for another three days. I wanted one last look at the place," she said smoothly. "Thought I'd bring the boys down for the weekend, show them around, move the last of _my_ things out of here."

She pursed her lips and looked at him for a moment, then back to the window, hesitated before adding, "And the idea of having someone else in here... It didn't sit well with me."

He softened at that last part, having just come to that same conclusion himself. He remembered what she said about the boys and looked around, expecting them to come out at that second. They didn't. And the cabin was quiet.

"Where... _are_ the boys?" he asked, looking past her into one of the rooms, as if they'd materialize out of thin air right then.

"With Emma."

His eyes flicked sharply to hers at that. She gave a defeated shrug. His expression melted into compassion.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm... I'm getting there."

He nodded sympathetically, wanted to reach forward and hug her, but knew she'd resist the attempt.

_It's not fair_, he thought again.

He took a step forward. "Can we... Regina, can we please just talk? About us?"

She looked at him and David saw his own hesitancy and vulnerability reflecting in her eyes. She looked uncomfortable for many seconds then nodded with a wince. Relieved, he took another step. He thought for a moment to figure out how exactly he wanted to word what had been bothering him since he woke up from the coma.

"You've had a long time to think and... and to move on. But, it hasn't been that long for me. In all honesty, it's only felt like a day. And maybe picking things up where we last left them wasn't... the greatest idea." He looked down, at his hands, saw he was wringing them together anxiously. "I don't want to come between you and your sons but... I also don't want to go another day without you-"

"David," she breathed out tiredly. It sounded like, "Stop," and so he did.

His eyes snapped up when he realized she was walking toward him. He swallowed when she touched his hands. She unhooked his fingers from each other and laid her palms to his. David looked up. Guilt was still written across her features. He sighed and tried to take his hands back, ignoring how perfect hers felt in his, ignoring the touch he'd been craving, and the soft skin he'd yearned for. Ignoring all that, he gently pulled his hands away. Hers tightened. Her fingers moved upward and curled over his wrists.

"I still feel the same way about you," she whispered. She let out a soft and slightly broken laugh. "Twelve years and that hasn't changed. I don't think it ever will," she admitted.

He didn't allow the hope in his chest to grow beyond a seed, the idea of her walking out again was too great a fear. None of them moved, each too afraid to break the peace they had so carefully crafted in that moment.

"What are you saying?" he asked cautiously.

She seemed to think on that. He waited.

"I want to get back what we had," she said eventually, voice softer than a whisper, and _so_ scared.

His breath wooshed out of him in relief, and that seed of hope bloomed. "Me too," he said, kissing the side of her head. "Me too."

She took a deep breath and released it as, "I'm really bad at this. Relationships."

He shook his head. That didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was willing to try. That was all he needed.

"I don't care. I love _you_."

She went still and pulled back.

"Too soon?" he asked with a wince

She shook her head. "Not if it's true."

"It is," he assured quickly.

She looked down and accepted it with a nod. "Before you," she said softly, eyes on their hands, "I wasn't capable of… of… loving for a very long time." She closed her eyes and stepped closer to rest her head on his shoulder. "I... You reminded me what it... what it was like and... Even if I don't say it… just know that I… that I do, David."

He nodded and kissed her head. "I'll try to keep that in mind for the next argument," he joked. Her laugh was teary.

His eyes shut and for a few moments they just stayed like that, until he felt the urge to stupidly blurt out, "What about Henry?"

She leaned back from him with a huff of irritation and said, "I'll tell him to get over it."

She smiled a bit to ease the worried look on his face. But it didn't help.

"I don't want to come between-"

"You're not," she said quickly. "It's... It's more about me than it is about you. Or even us. I'll speak to him again," she promised.

"Regina-"

"My sons," she cut him off, "mean a great deal to me, David."

"I-"

"But so do you," she said, surprising him. "I'm not going to be made to chose. Especially not by my ten-year-old."

_**...**_

"Taco Tuesday," Emma announced, placing the food on the table in front of the two boys.

"It's Saturday," Henry said, confused.

She laughed and mussed up his hair.

"Yum! Thanks Emma," Daniel said, snatching one straight off the serving dish.

She plopped into her seat. "You should thank Mary-Margaret. I can't cook to save my life."

Her roommate laughed and came out the kitchen. "You actually did a pretty good job helping, Emma." Mary-Margaret took a seat next to Emma.

Emma put two tacos on her plate and had another one in her hand as she got up and went back into the kitchen.

"Who wants juice?" she asked after taking a bite.

"I do," Daniel and Henry said at the same time.

They stopped eating and glared at each other. They hated speaking at the same time. Emma grinned, slightly (fine! More than slightly) pleased at the sight of the two of them eating a food they probably weren't allowed to eat - and doing it with terribly poor table manners. She loved it. She loved how relaxed they were here, how fun it was to just hang out with them.

She'd just finished pouring their juice when her phone rang. She set the bottle on the counter and quickly fished her phone out of her pocket. It took a few seconds to remember who exactly Ceberus was. She snickered and decided to change the Mayor's contact name.

"Hey," she answered. "They're just having dinner. I can bring 'em over in-"

"Do you mind if they stay the evening?" she interjected.

Emma was tempted to ask why, but the sight of them fighting over the last taco brought a smile to her face and so she found herself nodding and letting out an all too happy, "Sure."

She could take another night on the sofa, her back wouldn't mind it.

"Great."

Curious now, she asked, "Any plans for this evening, Madame Mayor?"

She took in a deep breath than sounded more like an extremely relaxed sigh and breathed out an entirely unconvincing, "No."

Emma laughed as she hung up.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Saturday, 5 February 2011**_

"I'm not going to be made to chose. Especially not by my ten-year-old."

He offered a hesitant smile and hugged her again. Her eyes closed as she relaxed into him, her face against his chest, nose against his t-shirt, and breathed in deeply. He smelt of fabric softener. Her heart slowed to steady beats. She felt calm. Calm and settled for the first time in… in a year. Since-

"I missed you," he murmured, lips against her forehead. "These last few days…"

"I'm sorry," she breathed against him. "I shouldn't have pushed you away like that." He hummed in agreement. "Again," she added, wincing.

He pulled back a bit, just enough to see her eyes, but still close so that she had to crane her neck to look into his. His fingers trailed over her cheek.

"I don't know how you did it."

He cupped the side of her face. The blue of his eyes were becoming darker the longer she started into them, entrancing ocean depths now. She was drowning in them, lungs full and breath held. They were nearer now, although she didn't recall moving.

"I wouldn't have been able to… to survive… to survive in a world without you, one where I didn't know if you were…"

Her eyes started burning, throat dry as she gulped. Regina leaned upward and caught his lips, his smooth, soft lips. They were so incredibly gentle against hers.

Her fingers tightened on his shirt. "It was unbearable," her voice cracked. "Without… y—you."

He held the back of her head and they hugged for a long while.

_**...**_

The cabin was clean, habitable once more, and the pair looked around at their handiwork.

"You really don't need to move your things," David said again as he eyed the boxes by the door.

She patted his arm and walked toward them. "Well, I am."

"No, seriously." He stopped her as she tried to lift one. "You could leave it here."

She thought it over, looked between him and the boxes, then shrugged.

"No," she said through a smile. "I'm moving them."

She lifted one and carried out the door. David rolled his eyes and helped her with the rest. Surprisingly, it all managed to fit in the trunk.

"You hungry?" he asked, leaning against the side of the car to look at her.

"A bit." Regina glanced over her shoulder. "But the cabin needs to be restocked. Although, I suppose we could do that now. Do you think the grocery store will still be open?"

He breathed out a laugh. "As fun as that sounds, maybe we could do dinner first? I'm starving."

"Okay." She pulled out her phone. "Just let me call Emma."

"Right. I forgot you still have to pick up… the boys." The words sounded uncertain. Boys or twins? What did she usually call them? "What time are you… gonna… um, get them?"

She paused and looked up. "I was actually going to ask her to keep them." His surprise must have shown. "I still have to unpack these," she said patting the trunk. "And maybe… we could continue our conversation?"

He nodded and got into the car, giving her privacy for the phone call.

…

"You okay?" he asked as they took their seats opposite each other in the booth. "You look… I dunno… Uncomfortable?"

She leaned forward, voice low, and said with the utmost seriousness, "I'm wearing a sweatshirt. In public."

David chuckled. "Not the first time, Gina."

She nodded and leaned back in her seat. "True, but they don't remember the first time." She twisted her wrist in a gesture toward the whole diner.

He looked around and noticed a few curious gazes and some open stares. "Yeah… They don't remember a lot of things. It's… It's kind of… strange." He looked at her. "Introducing myself to people I already knew so well. Having to remake the friendships I already had… It's like… Everyone's forgotten me."

She looked down. David's brows pulled together as he watched guilt spread across her features. She started picking at the corners of the menu in front of her.

"It's part of the curse," she explained. "The… The illusion of time moving forward. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." He reached across the table and touched her hand. "I'm glad you didn't forget me."

Her eyes turned tender, and smile soft. "Me too. It might have made things easier… but I'm glad I didn't."

Her fingers came over his and she took his hand. David's smile turned into a grin. She tried and failed to reign hers in.

A young blonde waitress apprehensively approached them. "Can I… take your… order?"

"Yeah," David answered, eyes still on Regina. He looked up at their waitress with a charming smile. "Root beer for me. She'll have a chocolate shake."

He nodded to Regina whose eyes narrowed warningly at him.

"And two beef burgers," he added.

"Actually-"

"With a side plate of fries and onion rings," he interrupted.

The waitress looked up skeptically and dared a glance at Regina who shook her head in disbelief. The pair stared at each other until she turned to the waitress and nodded to the unasked question.

"Two burgers. One beef, one grilled chicken. No fries. No onion rings."

"Right. Um.. okay." She diverted her eyes quickly and scribbled the order on her notepad. "I'll be right back for your drinks." She left.

The corners of his mouth flicked upward and David chuckled at her unamused expression.

"I know you hate me ordering for you," he apologized. "But… I also know you love chocolate milkshakes. Especially after a difficult day. And I think today counts as that."

"And the fries and onion rings?" She raised a brow. "My hatred for greasy foods hasn't changed."

He shrugged and simply said again. "Not the first time."

She shook her head and let out a deep sigh. "Have I ever told you you're irritating?"

David pretended to think it over. "Not in along while, no. Why?"

The waitress came back then and placed their drinks in front of them. Regina's eyes lit up at the milkshake and David smirked. She eagerly reached for a straw, caught him watching her and promptly told him to, "Shut up." She shook her head then took a sip. "Irritating," she muttered.

David laughed.

…

"You're not going to unpack these," he muttered as he carried the last box into the basement.

"Yes, I am," she huffed.

David placed the box next to all the others. "No, you're not," he laughed. "I know you too well. They'll just gather dust in this mess of a-"

"Why is everyone suddenly interested in the state of my basement?" she exclaimed, eyes wide. "It's just… Just disorganized."

His lips pulled together in a line to keep from laughing. "Disorganized. Sure."

"Shut up." Regina gestured to the stairs. "Shall we?"

"Well, you did rope me into free labor with the promise of wine so… Yeah."

…

"Henry moved in with Emma," she told him.

He paused in his attempt to uncork the bottle. Their wine glasses stood inches away from her. Forgotten on the counter. David set the bottle down and waited for the rest. Her eyes were downcast, shoulders slumped in defeat, and hands wrung together, fingers interlinked the way it was whenever she shared things that made her feel vulnerable. He guessed her children would be at the top of that list right now.

"It's... I..." Tears formed in her eyes. She gulped. "I don't think he's going to come back home."

Her hands reflected on the countertop. They were trembling. She let out a shaky breath and wiped at her eyes.

"Maybe… Maybe it's for the best," he offered softly.

Her eyes snapped up, hard and insulted, but her croaked, "What?" was broken.

"I didn't mean it like that," he assured. "I just… Maybe it'll be good for now. You did…" He blew out a frustrated breath and tried a softer way to say... He sighed when he failed and instead went for bluntness. "You did hurt him, Regina."

Her head bowed. "I know…"

David came around the island and placed his hand over hers. "I'm not saying this to hurt you, but you broke his trust. He's going to need some time to…"

"To recover," she finished sadly. "To reflect…" She sighed. "I know."

Her eyes glazed over, hands now still, and body tense. Memories of her mother, he knew at once. David leaned forward slowly and pressed the barest of kisses to her forehead.

"Just be honest with him," he urged. "He's your son, he'll remember that soon enough."

She leaned further into him. David hugged her back.

"You have no idea how much I've needed you," she whispered. "For moments like this." Her voice became softer. "It would have been easier raising the twins with you. And probably would have saved them some childhood trauma."

"Everyone's got childhood trauma, Regina," he laughed. "But, if it makes you feel better, I promise to help scar the next one."

She ducked her head a bit. "You still want..."

"Of course." He bent to catch her eyes. "Everything we spoke about before. I still want that. Unless you… Do you-"

She nodded quickly. "Yes. Everything," she agreed. "But I think it's too soon to start planning all that again."

"Of course," he stepped back quickly. He reached for the bottle again. "Back to the wine?" he asked, holding it out.

She nodded. "Yip."

_**Sunday, 6 February 2011**_

Emma's sleepy contentment was broken by a frantic whispered call of her name. She ignored it and rolled over. Something shook her shoulder.

"Emma!" came the scared whisper again.

"Henry?" She squinted her eyes open and sat up on the sofa. She noticed the green eyes. "Oh. Danny. Hey." She noted his distress. "What's… What's wrong? You okay, kid?"

He shook his head quickly. His skin was pale and skin drenched. "I… I h-had a uh… I had a nightmare," he whispered fearfully.

"Oh."

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Uhh… You… wanna talk about it?" she asked with an awkward shrug.

He shook his head quickly.

"Okay," she said just as fast. "Um… Should I… Kid, what do…"

He was close to tears. She held her arms out and offered him a hug. He looked at her, thought about it for a second, then leaned forward. He was shaking. She rubbed his back but it didn't seem to help.

"Emma?" he asked against her shoulder, voice small and scared. "C-can you… Um… Can you call my mom?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed._ Why didn't I think of this myself?_

She grabbed her phone and checked the time. It was late. A call at this hour would likely be ignored. Any sane person would be sleeping. But… she couldn't say no. And the Mayor was more likely kill her for not calling than for waking her.

"Okay…" She hummed absently as she scrolled through her contacts.

Danny came to sit by her side. She'd scrolled right down to 'R'. The name wasn't there. What? Why wasn't it… Oh... Right. Cerberus. She scrolled back up to 'C'. Emma was grateful for her forgetfulness when the contact name earned her an amused snicker.

"She'll kill you if she sees that," he warned, though he seemed to find it funny.

He pulled the blanket up to his chin. Emma gave a tight smile at his attempt at braveness. She dialed the number. It rang. They waited. She dialed again. It rang again. They waited. Emma looked at the staircase.

"Did you uh… Did you… wet the bed or something?"

His eyes widened in horror and he breathed out a quick, "No," like she was insane to even suggest that.

"Sorry," she apologized quickly. "I was just… asking."

The phone continued ringing as she held it against her ear. They waited in silence. She redialed. They waited some more. Emma handed the phone to him and got up.

"I'm gonna make some cocoa. You want some?"

Danny nodded and curled against the armrest of the sofa with the phone held tightly against his ear. He was still shaking. Emma quietly opened the cupboard doors of the kitchen to retrieve the hot cocoa ingredients. She looked at him through the corner of her eye. He called the number again.

"Kid, maybe we should just…"

"Hello?"

Daniel perked up when he heard her voice. "Mom," he greeted in a whisper.

It was silent in the apartment and so Emma could hear every word of their conversation.

"I'm sorry for waking you up."

"It's alright, sweetheart. I'm sorry I didn't get to the phone quicker." Her voice changed to concern. "Did something happen?"

"I uh..." Daniel picked at the blanket draped over the armrest. "I had th-that… the…" He swallowed and hid further in the blanket. "It was worse this time."

"The nightmare?"

"Yeah." He nodded. Emma's brows furrowed as she moved the kettle to the stovetop for the water to boil.

"Oh, sweetheart… Do you want me to come get you?"

Emma stepped forward, prepared to dissuade the boy from leaving, but he shook his head.

"No," he said softly. "No, I just… I guess I… I uh… I kinda got scared."

Emma let out a breath of relief and went back to the cocoa. The mayor's voice lowered, Danny followed her lead, and she couldn't hear from the rest of their conversation. By the time he hung up, the cocoa was ready. She placed the mugs on the coffee table near the sofa then went back to the kitchen to turn off the light.

"Thank you." Daniel handed the phone back to her.

Emma took it back and placed it on the table next to the mugs. She handed a mug to him. He tried a sip. Still too hot.

"Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile.

A few awkward minutes passed.

"Do you… want to…" She gave a small unsure shrug. "Talk… about it?"

"Erh…" His gaze was on the mug. "I… I don't." He sighed and looked up. "Um, Emma..."

He said her name unsurely, like he didn't know what to call her. She didn't blame him. With Henry calling her 'mom' after only a few days she felt a bit off-kilter herself.

"Emma's fine," she assured quickly.

"Okay." He looked relieved. But only for a moment. Then he was nervous gain. "Please don't take any offence to this… but, I… I don't really know you that well and…"

She nodded. "It's okay. I get it. I just met you two a few days ago." It sounded just a bit hurt.

Daniel heard it too. "I like you," he offered. "And I like hanging out with you." He turned thoughtful. "I think Mom will let me spend time with you. I mean she let Henry move in."

Her face pulled into a cringe. "Yeah, about that… Kid, could you talk to your brother about that?"

Daniel shifted uncomfortably. "I dunno, Em. I… He won't really listen to me. I…"

"Please?" she pushed.

He sighed and nodded after a moment. "Yeah, okay," he relented. "Tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Sunday, 6 February 2011**_

"You know you're supposed to use a measuring cup, right?"

Emma looked to sleepy voice coming from the stairs. She smiled at his mussed up hair. Danny wiped at his eyes as he came down the stairs.

"Morning, kid." He sat down at the counter. "You sleep okay?"

He hummed and wiped at his eyes again. "Yeah." His brows pulled together. "Seriously though, you're supposed to use a measuring cup." He pointed to the bowl into front of her.

Emma looked at the bowl. She was making pancakes, had wanted to make breakfast before they woke up.

"And where's your sifter?"

"My what?"

He rolled his eyes and got off the chair. He walked around the counter and started looking through the draws. He pulled out a stack of measuring cups, a bunch of other ingredients, and what she assumed was the sifter.

She watched him with an amused and slightly offended look. "I know how to make pancakes."

"I didn't say you didn't," he said absently as he took the milk carton out the fridge.

She gestured to the counter at all the things he'd taken out. He raised his eyebrows in an expression of earnest curiosity, like he had no idea what she was trying to say.

"Mom says it's best to take out everything you need before you start cooking. It's easier to have it all in front of you instead of randomly grabbing ingredients when you need them," he explained innocently. He handed her a measuring cup and the sifter.

She narrowed her eyes. "Wise ass." She took the offered objects.

He shook his head slowly. "Cerberus," he corrected.

"Hey!" she exclaimed with wide eyes.

He wouldn't tell his mother, would he? She saw the little smirk on his face and breathed in relief before allowing herself a small laugh. Emma measured out two cups of flour (and sifted it) into the mixing bowl. Next were the eggs, milk and sugar.

"Oh, and this," Danny said, turning to the cupboards again. He grabbed a bottle of vanilla essence from it and handed it to her with a teaspoon.

She measured it and added it in.

"Do you have chocolate chips?" he asked excitedly.

Emma frowned. "I dunno. Check the cupboards."

He turned and did just that, after a few seconds he came back. "No chocolate chips, but there is maple syrup and chocolate sauce," he said with a grin. "Should I set the table?" he asked.

"Yeah," Emma nodded.

She watched him grab plates and cutlery and place them down. He stopped and looked at Mary-Margaret's bedroom.

"Where's Ms. Blanchard?" he asked curiously.

Emma stirred the batter as she spoke. "She volunteers at the hospital on Sunday mornings."

"Oh." He removed one plate and set of cutlery from the table and packed it away. He then placed down three glasses and the carton of orange juice from the fridge.

Emma had just finished stirring the batter and went to check on the bacon.

"You're making bacon too?" he asked excitedly. Emma nodded. "Sweet. Can you make it extra crispy?"

"You like it crispy too?" she asked, glad to have something in common with him. He nodded. "Sure, kid." She glanced up the stairs. "Can you go wake your brother?"

"Okay," he said happily. Danny bounded up the stairs two at a time.

They both came down a few minutes later. Henry yawned as Danny began telling him what they were having for breakfast. By that time she had two pancakes on each of their plates and was just waiting on the bacon to become 'extra crispy.'

They went to sit at the table and poured themselves orange juice. Henry looked fully awake after about two sips and began talking to Danny with the same enthusiasm.

Emma smiled as she watched the two of them. They launched into an impromptu sword-fighting session with the forks. It was entertaining to watch. She flipped the last pancake onto her plate and dished the bacon onto theirs before she carried it to the table. She put a plate down in front of each of them.

"Thank you," they said politely.

She chuckled as they glared at each other and went back to the kitchen for her own plate.

"You did that on purpose."

"No, I didn't," Henry huffed.

She shook her head as she reached for the maple syrup. Danny grabbed the chocolate sauce and poured so much onto his place that it gave her a toothache just thinking of eating it.

"Easy," she said, taking the bottle from him. "I can't send you back to your mom with teeth full of cavities."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Danny's obsessed with chocolate," he told her.

"I am not," he defended after licking some from his fingers.

Which earned him a pointed look from Henry. Emma laughed and poured some orange juice into her glass. She took a sip.

Danny and Henry were talking again, something about school. She listened with a smile, thinking out a plan for today. She could take them to the park after breakfast, maybe treat them to ice-cream after. Regina did say she could keep them till noon. Not in those _exact_ words but whatever. They spoke on the phone after Danny went back to sleep and the mayor just happened to be tired enough to coerce into extending their stay by a few hours.

"Mom?" Henry called.

Emma winced at the word but shook her head slightly at his questioning look. "Sorry, kid. What'd you say?"

"Danny just reminded me about my homework. I need to do it later. And I forgot my school uniform at ho- at Regina's house."

Danny scoffed at the slip and reached for his glass to take a sip of juice. Henry only glanced at him before he looked at her again, eyes big.

"I uh… I need to get it," he said.

She nodded again. "Yeah okay. We can stop by after breakfast. We need to get Danny some clothes anyway. And then maybe we could go to the park afterward?" she suggested.

Their faces lit up and they nodded quickly. Breakfast passed by smoothly and once they were finished eating, they got up to do the dishes.

"Nah uh," Emma stopped them, looking at Danny specifically. "I know how to clean dishes, kid."

He smirked. "I didn't said you didn't. I was just being polite."

Wise ass, she thought. Henry went back to the table and packed away the orange juice and sauces.

"Are you sure you don't need any help, Mom?" he asked.

She swallowed quickly. "Positive."

"Okay. I'm gonna go shower," he said, heading for the stairs.

Emma watched him go and breathed a sigh of relief once he made it up the stairs. She turned to Danny.

"Kid," she said desperately. "You remember that conversation we had last night?"

He made a face and a long little whine before nodding. He huffed and turned for the stairs.

A few minutes later once all the dishes had been washed, she heard arguing from upstairs, then a scuffle, then Danny's angry strides as he comes down the stairs.

"Kid?" she asked worriedly. She dried her hands and walked to him. "What happened?"

He scowled at the floor. "I want to go home," he said through clenched teeth.

"What? Why?"

Henry came down the stairs with a towel slung over his shoulder. He headed for the bathroom with that same angry look on his face. The door closed sharply behind him and the lock clicked into place. The sound of running water was heard a moment later.

Danny glared at the door. Emma turned to him again. "Kid, what happened?"

He took a deep breaths and shook his head. "I want to go home, Emma."

She sucked in a breath. As much as Henry calling her 'Mom' freaked her out, she didn't exactly like 'Emma' coming from Daniel much either.

She knelt in front of him. "Look, whatever Henry did or said, I'll speak to him about, okay? Just… Just don't go. I really wanted to spend time with you two today."

He looked up after a moment and his features softened. "Me too," he said sincerely. "I really like hanging out with you." Her heart warmed at those words. He shook his head quickly. "But not right now. I don't want to be anywhere near Henry. I want to go home."

Emma didn't know how to respond to that. She thought back to yesterday, how Henry had refused to go with his brother to the cabin, even to the point where he yelled at Regina when she arrived. The woman had no idea what she had walked into, but had taken it in stride, improvised that she was here to drop Daniel off. Danny was still climbing the stairs and hadn't heard the yelling. Emma knew if he had he would never have agreed to stay. He didn't like the way Henry acted toward their mother and Emma couldn't blame him for not wanting to be around him, but it hurt that she wouldn't get to spend time with him.

She sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'll take you home."

…

She pulled the door back with a surprised look on her face. Regina didn't know what she expected when the doorbell rang, but it certainly wasn't this.

"Mom," Daniel nudged, brows high at her speechlessness.

She opened the door wider and stepped aside quickly for the three of them to come inside. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the kitchen then back to the boys. Ms Swan shut the door behind herself and stood apprehensively near it.

"You're back?" she asked, looking at Henry. She reached forward to touch his hair. He recoiled from her touch and she pulled her hand back quickly.

"Just to get my stuff," he said, stepping around her to the stairs. "I forgot my school uniform." His foot hovered over the first step as he looked at her. "Can I uh…" He touched the railing uncertainly. "Can I go get it?" he asked, gesturing in the direction of his bedroom.

Her eyes shut briefly in pain. Regina nodded. He raced up the stairs, not needing to be told twice. She looked away from one son to the other. Daniel had just hung up his blue coat in the closet by the door.

She frowned at his appearance. "Why are you still in your PJs?" she asked.

He shrugged but didn't give an answer.

"We came straight after breakfast," Emma answered for him a few awkward seconds later.

"I wasn't expecting you until this afternoon. Did something happen?" she asked worriedly. She bent and held his chin to look at his face. "Daniel?"

A small smile tugged at his lips. "I just wanted to come home," he told her softly.

Regina glanced over his head at Emma. She seemed just as baffled by his unusual lack of energy and enthusiasm. She looked back at him. "Are you sure?"

He nodded and gave a quick smile. "I missed my room."

"Okay." She let go of his chin and stood to her full height. "Well, did you have fun?" she asked, brows furrowed as she tried to make sense of his behaviour.

He nodded again. "Yip. Loads of it. Emma made pancakes and bacon." He noted these off distractedly and looked toward the stairs. "Bye Emma." He hugged her quickly before making his way upstairs.

Regina's eyes followed his form with a frown before she turned to the blonde. Emma winced before she met her eyes and sighed immediately after.

"He and Henry had a bit of a spat this morning," she confessed, hand on her neck and looking at the ground. "I don't know what it was about. They won't tell me about it. I'm gonna try to talk to Henry again later."

Regina raised a brow at that.

Emma's eyes widened and she quickly backtracked. "Not that… uh… That I think… Not that I think he's coming home with me. I mean if you- If you… If he's supposed to stay here, I'll bring his things back or whatever. I just-" She groaned in irritation and stuffed her hands in her jeans pockets. "Not that that would work. I just meant that… If you want him back I'll bring him back. I was thinking about it and I'm gonna tell him tomorrow's the last day at my place-"

"No," Regina hurried to say. "No," she said again, slower this time.

"What?"

"I've given quite a bit of thought to it and… it would… I think it would actually be in Henry's best interest if he stays with you."

Emma's eyes became impossibly wider. "You… do?" she asked, tone filled with suspicion at the last word.

"Yes," she nodded. "He wants to get to know you. They both do. And I… I can't… They should. They should get to know you. You are their… their… birth mother," she forced out. "It's important."

But what was more important was her relationship with her sons. And the way things were between her and Henry were just awful. She had hurt him in a way she swore she never would, that she thought she would never be capable of. She hurt him. And he was angry. Rightfully so.

She wasn't going to force him to be around her if he didn't want to, knew the feeling all too well to put her son through it.

She hoped the distance would put things into perspective for both of them, that she could find a way to make up for things between them. And that… that he could forgive her.

"There's more to it than that," Emma pointed out.

Her lips pressed together in a thin line and she nodded. "There is," she said simply.

She nodded, respectful of the fact that she clearly wasn't going to tell her the rest. She looked away quickly and scuffed her shoe against the hardwood floor.

"Well uh anytime you… Anytime you change your mind about it I'll- I'll bring him back."

She was nervous, Regina noted with a smirk. "You'll be fine. They're like dogs at this age. Food, water, fresh air. Oh!" she remembered. "Don't forget to check his homework." She frowned a bit. "Although with your roommate being his teacher, I don't suppose I'll need to remind you of that."

Emma's eyes lit up, like she had just been given a useful tip. "No, the homework thing I can handle," she assured.

_**...**_

"Danny?" Henry called as he knocked on his door. "Danny?" He knocked again.

No answer.

He sighed. He lifted his hand to knock again but thought better of it and dropped it to his side instead. "Can I come in?"

Again no answer.

He rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine you win, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about what I said. Can I come in now?"

Silence.

"Danny," he huffed. He touched the handle, was about to turn it.

"Go away, Henry."

He did the opposite. He turned the handle and walked in. "Hey! What are you doing with that?" he exclaimed, rushing to grab the walkie-talkie from his brother.

Danny lifted it over his head. "I don't need it anymore," he said simply.

"Oh come on," he groaned as he reached for it.

Danny was about two inches taller than him and believe it or not, it actually made a difference now as he tried to grab the walkie-talkie.

"I'm sorry," he huffed. "I didn't mean it," Henry insisted.

He lowered his arm. "Yes, you did," he snapped, dropping the walkie-talkie into Henry's hands. "You meant it."

"I-"

"And I don't want to speak to you either. Or see you. Ever again."

Danny shoved at his shoulders and pushed him out the room. The door shut in his face. Henry stared at it in shock. He looked down at the walkie-talkie. Henry felt tears well up in his eyes. He wiped at them angrily and walked back to his room.

…

Emma shuffled nervously as they waited for Henry to come downstairs. Only a few minutes had passed but the awkwardness she felt made it seem like a small eternity.

They trailed off into silence after her lame claim that she could handle homework. The mayor was being surprisingly civil. They hadn't threatened each other and she seemed to lack ulterior motives for allowing Henry to stay with her.

Unless of course letting him stay with her was the ulterior motive – get him to see how good his life here was by forcing him to take a step back. Emma looked around at the front entrance to the mansion.

She would never be able to provide this kind of lifestyle for him and Regina knew that.

Maybe this was the ulterior motive.

She opened her mouth, not sure of what to say, but closed it when she looked at Regina. Her arms were crossed over her chest, neck craned to look at the kitchen for a moment before settling on the staircase again. She looked the exact same way Emma felt, nervous, suspicious and maybe a little scared and vulnerable. It was odd to see such a- to see any emotion really on Regina. Well, aside from anger or hate, she corrected.

Henry finally came downstairs, her eyes snapped to the stairs at the sound of his footsteps. Emma took a step toward him.

"Kid!" she exclaimed in relief. She took the stack of books from his hands when she saw him struggle with them.

"Thanks," he said, adjusting his hold on his uniform and school shoes.

Emma smoothed out the cover of the comic book at the top of the pile. "Got everything?"

He nodded vigorously in answer to her question and went for the door. Emma stopped him. "Give those here for a sec."

His brows creased together. "Why?"

"So that you can give your mom a hug."

Her warning look must have improved with the few trial runs she did in the mirror this morning because Henry didn't even argue. He just handed over his items and turned to Regina.

She crouched in front of him. "Henry…"

He put his arms around her neck for a few seconds then let go. "Bye."

She held onto him a moment longer, eyes closed. "Goodbye Henry."

She went still as she let go. He leapt from her hold to the door so fast that when Emma blinked again he was out of it.

"_Do I need to be worried about you?" She remembered the mayor asking her the night she dropped them off from Boston._

"_You may have given birth to them but they are mine!" rang through her ears. As well as, "…if you don't I will destroy you."_

The threat echoed from her voice to the present where Emma was once again met with the stony face and dead eyes she had encountered after bringing Henry back the second time.

She'd done it. She'd done exactly what she told the mayor she wouldn't do, she took her son from her. She took him. She actually took him.

"I th…" Emma swallowed. Her throat felt unusually dry. "I think we need to talk about… about a cus- a custody agreement or something. Since Danny's here and Henry's with me."

Regina nodded. "Yes, I don't think they should be separated. We'll need to work out something so the boys can spend time together."

"Well, yeah but… That- That's not what I meant. I uh… I just… They're at school together so they'll still see each other but I meant time with both of them. Like… I could… This weekend with them. That was fun, maybe stuff like that. And then obviously you'd have time with the both of them too and-"

"Ms Swan," she cut her off tiredly. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest again. "Can we talk about this some other time? I'll schedule a meeting for tomorrow. My assistant will call you."

A dismissal. Emma nearly scoffed at it. There was the Mayor she remembered. She gave a single nod and left.

…

He turned as she walked in and offered a sympathetic smile. Her brow furrowed once she saw what he was doing.

"You didn't have to do the dishes too, David."

He shook his head. "You let me crash on your couch, it's the least I can do."

"You already used that line when you made breakfast," she pointed out. "And you shouldn't really be thanking me. Not when I should have insisted you use the guest bedroom."

He laughed as he rinsed off the last plate. "I was too tired to move. You would have wasted your breath."

He dried his hands on the dishtowel and turned to face her. She had a humorous smile on her face that fell slowly as things turned quiet between them. She leaned forward on the island counter, her forearms resting on the surface. Her eyes flicked from her hands to his eyes.

"Daniel is home," she told him.

He nodded. "I heard them come in."

Her head tilted to the side. "But you stayed in here," she pointed out, her tone questioning.

David nodded and leaned against the counter to face her. "I didn't want to intrude. It… It seemed like a private moment." He lightened his tone. "Besides I thought a better introduction was necessary."

She straightened with a chuckle. "Is that so?"

"Mhm." He came a bit closer. "How would it look? Me being here first thing in the morning?"

She shook her head and looked down. He was close enough to touch her now.

"What would it look like?" he asked, voice low as he traced the back of his fingers over her jaw.

He felt the vibration of her chuckle against his fingertips as he touched her throat. "They're too young to know what spending the night means," she murmured. "Besides…" She cleared her throat and looked away for a second. "We didn't actually do anything."

He hummed, fingers caressing the side of her face. She leaned into his touch with closed eyes.

"I should go," he said after a few moments. "I'm sure you want some time with your son." Her eyes opened. "Can't exactly get caught here," he added.

She nodded. A teasing smirk formed on her lips. "Planning to sneak out the back?"

He laughed a bit. "Well, Daniel _is_ upstairs so I could just use the front door."

She shook her head with a laugh and stepped back. He lifted his jacket from one of the barstools and followed her out the kitchen. He opened and stepped out the door, shrugged on his jacket as he looked at her. He smiled tenderly and stepped forward to place a kiss on her cheek.

"When am I going to see you again?" he wondered aloud.

She tried to bite down a smile. "Well, since you're so interested in making a good first impression… do you want to come over for lunch? You already met Henry, I could introduce you to Daniel," she offered hesitantly.

He rose a brow sceptically. "Really?"

She nodded.

"I'd love to," he said with a grin. "What time should I come by?"

She exhaled in relief. "Around one," she answered. Her expression changed quickly into concern. "How are you planning on getting home?"

"Erh…" He looked back at the driveway and noticed his lack of a car. "I don't know actually." He turned back to her and shrugged. "I guess I could walk. Not that far."

She scoffed. "It's a fifteen minute drive. Walking would take longer. It is _that_ far." She went back inside and came out a few seconds later. "Here." She handed him her car keys.

"Regina, it's fine. I don't-"

"Take the keys, David." She gave him a pointed look.

"Your scary face still works," he joked. She was unamused. He relented with a sigh and took it gingerly.

"Not a scratch," she warned. "Not a scratch."

"Seriously?" He laughed in disbelief at her curt nod. "I taught _you_ to drive, remember?"

"Oh, I remember," she assured with a chuckle. "Not a scratch," she warned again.

_Seriously?_ He thought again. Her smirk was smug and he hated it. He put the keys in his pockets and stepped back. "Fine. Not a scratch. You got it." He walked backwards. "I'm just going to point out that _you_ crashed _my_ car. Into a mailbox."

Her eyes widened and cheeks turned pink. "Th-That w- That was almost thirty years ago," she called after him.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: I've added dates to the top of the chapters. So that's new. Hope you enjoy. Please leave a review.**_

* * *

_**Sunday, 6 February 2011**_

Daniel was laying on his bed, simply staring up at the ceiling. He heard a bird chirp as it flew past his window. He'd put a birdhouse in the tree branch close to his window about a month ago.

It was pretty popular with the birds. He liked to think of it as a restaurant. Danny's Drive-in. Or Fly-in. Whatever. It had delicious assorted seed and the most refreshing water a bird could ask for. He had about five or six regulars who visited daily. There was this little blue bird that he was particularly fond of. He called it Darby. He wondered if it was Darby that flew past. Daniel looked out the window to see.

The bird chirped again. He strained his neck and caught a flash of feathers that definitely weren't blue. It wasn't Darby, he realised disappointedly. It was the bigger grey one that scared the little ones away.

Daniel frowned in disappointment, laid back down and looked at the ceiling again.

_What now?_ he wondered as he stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck on his ceiling. He and Henry won them at the town carnival on their seventh birthday.

Well, he got the stars and Henry got the dinosaurs. He wondered if he should take them down. They didn't glow anymore and a few had already fallen off. He could still see the whitened shape they left behind on the ceiling. He bit his lip and stared up for a few seconds longer. Daniel decided he _did_ need to take them down. He looked around again. Maybe Mom would let him paint the room a different colour too.

He startled at the knocking on the door.

"Daniel?"

He sat up. "Yeah?"

A pause. Her tone was hesitant. "Do you mind if I come in?"

The crease between his brow deepened. "Okay?" he answered, both sounding and feeling unsure.

_Why was she asking?_ he wondered.

The door opened slowly but her approach was even slower. Mom perched herself carefully on the edge of his bed.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Daniel looked down at his covers. "No, not really," he admitted. "It's fine. Not… not really something to worry about."

"I'd still like to know," she said softly, her expression gentle and comforting.

He huffed, eyes on the bed between them and nodded. "Emma's kinda… freaked out," he started hesitantly. "She's not used to being a mom, she's not used to us. I mean… we_ just _met her. And well uh… she asked me to talk to Henry. I'm guessing her attempts didn't go that well. And uh anyway I- I uh… I did.

"I wasn't trying to be mean or hurt his feelings," he rushed to say. "But I think I did. And then Henry got mad and I tried to apologize but it didn't work and then he got madder and… um… he said some stuff. So I said some stuff back and then we were arguing and…" He took a deep breath before ploughing on. "And then… Henry said that he's not coming home. That he's staying with his… with Emma. And that if I was smart I'd leave too."

He shook his head angrily, the tips of his ears burning from embarrassment. She wasn't going to be happy about this next part.

"And that's when…" he peaked up at her for a second before looking back down at the blankets twisted in his fingers. "When I… I p- I... pushed him."

He glanced up again to find her brows raised and looked down just as fast.

"He pushed me back and said he hated me and that he didn't want to see me again…" He trailed off for a few seconds. "After that I told Emma I wanted to leave."

She didn't say anything for a few moments and Daniel was tempted to look up to gauge her reaction. He continued twisting the blankets in his fingers until her hand covered his and she leaned in to press a kiss to his forehead.

"He didn't mean that," she whispered against his hair.

Daniel frowned and looked at her as she pulled away. "What?" he asked in confusion.

"What he said," she replied, a furrow appearing between her brows, "about not speaking to you… about… about hating you."

_Oh! That_, he thought, mildly relieved that she wasn't lingering on the part where they were fighting.

"He's your brother and he loves you," she carried on, clearly misinterpreting his silence. "You know that, right?" she asked with a hint of a worried frown.

He answered with a slight eye roll. "Yeah, well it doesn't make him any less of an asshole for the way he's acting right now."

Her eyes widened. "Language, Daniel," she reprimanded.

He shrugged a shoulder in response. "Sorry, but it's true."

She looked at him like she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. A laughed scoff left her lips as she shook her head.

"So you're not upset then?" she asked, looking slightly more relaxed than when she first came in.

He shook his head slowly. "I was, but I'm okay now," he assured with a smile.

"Good," she smiled back.

She scooted closer and sat with her back against the wall before opening her arms to him. Daniel made a face and huffed in pretend annoyance before hugging her. She brushed some hair from his head and gave him another kiss. She hummed and breathed in deeply when he settled against her side.

"You need to apologize to your brother," she said upon exhale.

"What?" he exclaimed, pulling away to look at her. "But I- I- But- What? But I didn't do anything," he sputtered.

She hummed in disagreement. "You said you didn't mean to hurt his feelings, but you must have… So that's one." She lifted up a finger. "You argued. That's two." She lifted another finger. "And… you pushed him." The third finger lifted. "That's three."

"But he did all those things too!" Daniel exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"He did," she conceded. "And were you both under my roof, I would be having this conversation with him too." She swallowed and looked down for a second before clearing her throat. "However Henry is with Ms Swan and I trust she will… _handle_… this to the best of her ability. While I do the same with you. You can decide whether to do it today or tomorrow."

"Mo-om," he groaned. "That's not fair," he said again. Her expression didn't change. He huffed in irritation. "So not f-"

They both jumped at the sound of a small stone tapping against his window. He couldn't help the grin that spread over his face when he got off the bed and went to his window. He pulled it up and looked out to see Paige peaking over the top of the white wooden fence that separated their backyards.

She smiled when she saw him and gave a little wave. "Hey, Daniel. Wanna come over?"

"Mhmm… let me check," he said quickly before looking to his mother for approval. "Can I, Mom?"

"You're not even dressed yet," she reminded, half amused.

He looked down at his pyjamas. "I'll shower. Super quick. Please," he pouted. "Pretty, pretty please."

"When are you apologizing to your brother?" she countered.

His jaw dropped. He closed it quickly. "I'll do it tomorrow. At school," he promised. "Now, can I go? Please? Pretty, pretty please?"

She nodded after a mock sigh.

_Yes!_ He thought. He turned back and spoke to Paige. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Okay," she called back.

He shut the window quickly, grabbed his robe and towel and hurried out to the bathroom. He paused when he noticed his mother's tender smile. It was the smile that usually accompanied tears. He felt bad now and sat on the bed again.

"Are you okay, Mom?" he asked in confusion. Maybe he hurt her feeling or something. "Did you want to hang out today?"

She shook her head slowly, still with that same smile, and assured him that it was alright. "You finished your homework early, you can go play."

"You're sure?" he asked seriously.

She nodded again. He allowed himself a breath of relief after a moment of looking between her eyes.

"Thanks Mom." He smirked a bit. "Henry didn't finish his so he'll be majorly busy later."

"Well, I already warned Ms Swan so rest is up to her."

Daniel laughed at her expression. "I think Emma will be fine. Besides Ms Blanchard can help too."

Her smile turned tight at the name. Belatedly he remembered Snow White and mentally slapped himself for bringing her up.

"That he does."

She looked to the side for a moment and when their eyes met again Daniel swore she looked nervous.

"I wanted to _ask_... you something." He frowned as he noticed her hands wrung together in her lap. "Are you okay with… David… coming over for… lunch," she asked carefully.

He took the news in without saying anything and simply blinked at her. She seemed to be waiting for a response.

"Yeah?" he replied.

Her shoulders dropped in relief and it was only then that he realised how tense she was before.

"You're sure?" she asked quickly. "You're sure that it's okay? That you're okay with it?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Why was she so...

She looked down and played with the blankets the same way he had been doing earlier. "Well, I don't know… You might…"

And then it clicked and he nearly laughed.

"Wait… Mom, are you nervous about me meeting your _boyfriend_?"

Her head snapped up. "Daniel!" she exclaimed, eyes wide and cheeks turning pink.

"Oh my god," he laughed. "You totally are!"

She attempted to speak but no words came out. Still laughing, he stood from the bed and decided to let her recover. He'd never seen her that embarrassed before.

"I'm gonna get done. I'll be back by lunch," he said before hurrying out the door, that wide grin still on his face.

…

The shelves were bare. He'd taken nearly everything from his room, almost all the comics, a few books, some action figures and odd trinkets.

Regina touched the clay handprint he'd made her in kindergarten and nearly broke into tears. He was gone. He left. And God she missed him. It hadn't even been ten minutes since she last saw him but she missed him. She _needed_ him.

The house was far too quiet without him, no matter how much conversation she and Daniel filled it with. These last few days they both became acutely aware of the Henry-shaped hole in their lives when he wasn't here.

That was why she so quickly let Daniel stay the night with Emma. She couldn't imagine how horrible it must have been to be separated from him.

It was only two days after she first adopted Henry that she found out about Daniel. Henry hadn't stopped crying and in her desperation to help him, she'd gotten Sydney to find out who his birth parents were. In doing so she discovered an unnamed baby boy identical to Henry. She'd wrestled with herself after learning that their mother was the saviour and had even considered giving Henry up. But she couldn't. And the thought of another little boy out there… It compelled her to find him. Once they were finally reunited, Henry's constant crying ceased to what she deemed normal. And the two had been inseparable ever since.

The idea of Henry not being here, not living with them... She hated it. But she hated the idea of them being away from each other even more.

She needed to set up a meeting with Swan first thing Monday morning. She nodded to herself and left the room. She pulled the door shut after herself and stared at it for a few seconds.

She'd make things right, she swore it to herself. She would make it up to him, earn his forgiveness and trust. She would. Slowly she parted from the door and walked down the staircase to the foyer. Daniel came bounding past her, taking the stairs two at a time.

"Careful!" she called quickly.

He slowed, looked over his shoulder with a huff of irritation and walked excessively slowly down the rest of them. She reached the bottom before him and waited for him with an unimpressed expression. His matched hers.

She looked over his outfit. Play clothes, red t-shirt and brown cargo pants. It would do. She nodded.

He made it to the bottom step.

"You're not gonna walk me over, are you?" he asked, tone indicating he'd definitely prefer it if she didn't.

"Do you not want me to?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, I'm good. Paige's dad doesn't like you and it's weird for me when he can't figure out whether or not to group me in with you. He has a list of reasons, y'know… Reasons why you are invariably a bad person."

She rose a brow. "Oh. What number is he on so far?"

"Seventy-two," he deadpanned.

"Really?" she scoffed. "You'd think that given the extensive amount of time on his hands Jefferson could come up with far more than simply six dozen."

"It's not funny, Mom. Although… it kinda makes sense now, why he hates you, with the whole storybook actually being real and all, and you being a baddie who trapped him in Wonderland…" He scrunched up his face and shook his head quickly. "That's gonna take a while to get used to," he admitted.

She shook off the chills that came with her son speaking so casually of her past sins. "Yes, it is," she agreed.

"Is it weird?" he asked.

She tilted her head to the side. "Is what weird?"

"Being you?" He gave a small smile. "I mean… you remember your life before, right? You grew up in a different time, a different world… It must all seem so… So far away."

She never thought of it that way, sure she'd struggled with adjusting to this world and David had helped her, but she'd never thought of what living in two worlds would do to her.

"I suppose it is," she told him. "It is weird. Being me."

His smile stretched. "You have to tell me about it," he said excitedly. "All of it. Your world, what it was like, all the creatures, and magic…" His eyes got wide. "You _have_ to tell me about magic."

She chuckled. "When you get back," she assured. "Your twenty minutes are almost up and I didn't raise you to be late."

"Aww man," he sighed. He looked genuinely caught between hanging out with his best friend and hearing stories about magic.

"I'll answer any question you have after lunch," she promised. She kissed him on the forehead. "Okay?"

"Okay," he nodded. He hugged her quickly. "Bye Mom." He dashed out the door.

She smiled to herself and leaned back against the railing of the staircase.

…

Daniel was sitting comfortably in the living room on a chair, his legs over one armrest and his head on the other as he read a book Paige lent him. She said this was her new favourite and he was invested to find out why.

He glanced over the top of the book when the doorbell rang and looked towards the front door. Stilettos on the floor and the door opened. He craned his neck just in time to catch a glimpse of his mother's back before she disappeared from view. He marked his page and got up from the chair before making his way to the door.

"Thank you," came her soft voice.

Daniel's eyes were drawn to the flower in her grasp. He'd never seen one like it before. It was long necked with petals the softest shade of pink and a long slim green stem.

"It's lovely."

The man, who he presumed to be David, lit up at the compliment and said that so was she before attempting to move closer.

That was when Daniel decided to introduce himself.

"Hi."

They both jumped at that. He laughed a bit and walked closer.

"You must be David." He stuck out his hand.

He recovered quickly. "Yeah, I am." He shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Daniel."

He made a face. "Only Mom calls me Daniel," he told him. Well, Paige too but he didn't need to know that. "You can call me Danny."

…

"Sure," David answered. "Just ask your Mom first."

Daniel turned to her quickly, puppy dog eyes already on before he even spoke. "Please Mom, _please_?"

She looked between the two of them, unsure what she was about to say no to. "What's the request?" she asked with a laugh.

"Can I help David with the grill?" he asked.

Her eyes widened substantially.

"Please?" he added quickly.

She looked at David, then Daniel, then David again. "If anything happens…"

A smile stretched over his face. "It won't," he assured.

"Good." She smiled and focused on Daniel. "Yes, you may."

"Yes!"

"Just be careful," she stressed.

…

Daniel took a sip of his juice. "So… you don't remember anything?"

David, who was still chewing, simply shook his head with an apologetic shrug.

"Nothing? About the curse or being a prince? Or living in a world with magic? Nothing?"

Again, he shook his head. He swallowed quickly. "Sorry to disappoint, kiddo, but this is just as new to me as it is to you."

"I thought you and Mom were together since the curse started?" he asked in confusion.

She answered. "Well, not since the curse started," she clarified. "Just about a few weeks after."

She glanced at him and the two of them shared a look that Daniel just had to roll his eyes at.

"He helped me get used to this world. Like you said earlier, everything was new and strange and… _weird_. And I was practically clueless with anything more complex than a microwave."

David laughed softly. Daniel noticed their hands together on the table and decided he couldn't take the gooey-eyes any longer.

"So you never told him until now?" he asked.

They both stiffened at that question and Daniel knew he'd asked the right one. Finally. He thought he'd never get anything interesting out of them. He waited patiently for one of them to speak, instead they both avoided his eyes. His brows furrowed when he saw Mom pull her hand out from under David's. Maybe this was the wrong question to ask, he thought, his internal smirk dropping as he worried over upsetting them.

David released a quick exhale and looked up. "Your Mom told me about twelve years ago. We got into a…"

He looked her way for a second. She nodded for him to continue.

"We had an argument. I was very angry and left and… I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Or how fast. And… Well that's how I ended up in that coma."

David looked at her with a small strained smile. "So although it happened years ago… it still just feels like I've found out."

Daniel knew David wasn't talking to him anymore, not when this stranger only had eyes for his mother.

"Like you've just told me everything I knew… wasn't real," he finished softly.

Daniel looked between the two of them, worrying away on his bottom lip. His question had hit a nerve.

"Is… Is that why you were arguing? Before the accident?"

Mom cleared her throat and looked away from David. "Part of the reason," she answered, looking at him now.

He picked up his hotdog for another bite and chewed as he thought.

"I can't give you stories about magic and dragons and princesses in towers," David said apologetically, "but I can offer to take you with me to work. When I get my old job back of course," he added. "It's not the coolest of placed but I think you'll like it. Your Mom tells me you won't stop bugging her about getting a puppy."

"Wait… so you own the pet the store? You're the 'owner away on vacation'?" he asked with a laugh.

David joined in. "Apparently so, kid."

Kid. That was Emma's nickname for them too. Huh. Some things really do run in the family.

"Emma works there," he told them. "Well, she got a job there. I dunno if she started yet. Graham offered her a job as Deputy and Henry thought it would be really cool if she took it, but Emma said she doesn't have enough experience 'upholding the law' to take that kinda job. She said it would be hypocritical."

Mom's lips pulled together tersely. "Well… that's an awfully mature decision for her to have made."

"She sounds like a good person," David offered. "Guess I should look forward to meeting her, given that we'll be working together in the near future."

"Yeah…"

Daniel wanted to ask about that. Wouldn't it be weird for him to work with his daughter? For her to not know him? Or didn't it bother him because he didn't remember his past life? Did he secretly think they were crazy for believing in something so far fetched? Why did he believe his Mom in the first place? He decided he could ask that last one.

"Can I… ask something?"

"Of course, sweetheart," Mom answered immediately.

"It's for David," he told her, before looking at the man. "What made you believe my Mom? About the curse?"

His eyebrows lifted in surprise before he let out a very long breath and nodded to himself. "To be honest… I didn't. Not entirely. That is until I woke up from a nap that lasted over a decade and saw that she hadn't aged one day since the last time I saw her. Then of course there was all the people that don't remember me, the gaps in their memories that don't make any sense… It wasn't until now that I fully believed her."

"But you did kind of believe her?" he pushed. "Before the accident, right?"

David nodded. "I guess what really got me to believe was…"

Mom sighed and looked up. "I showed him my vault."

Daniel's eyes lit up. "Your vault… is here?" he exclaimed. "Here? In Storybrooke? Here? Wow. I have to see it. Can we go? Can you show me?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea. It's not a place I'm proud of, Daniel."

"Please?" he tried, putting extra effort into his subtle puppy dog eyes. Going for the full out puppy eyes never worked on her.

As usual there was a moment's pause. "I'll think about it," she relented.

He grinned and took another bite of his hotdog.

David looked between the two of them with small smile. "Danny, I've got a question for you…"

…

Regina watched Daniel and David from her seat at the outside table. They were just tossing around a ball and talking, laughing in between.

He was having fun. Or at least he looked to be. Maybe this morning with Henry hadn't really upset him, maybe he was just as unfazed as he let on. Maybe he really was fine. Or maybe he was just distracted for the moment.

"Woah, woah, woah, careful-"

"Got it!" Daniel exclaimed after jumping into the air and catching the ball seconds before it hit the window. "Phew! Close one," he laughed, running back over to his spot. He spotted her and his smile turned sheepish. "Sorry, Mom."

She gave him a smile to let him know it was fine and stood up. "I'm heading to the kitchen. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thanks," he said over his shoulder before throwing the ball to David.

He caught it easily. "I'm good too," he said to her, before he focused on Daniel again.

He was really good with him. Regina watched them for a moment before making her way inside. Really good. They were fast friends after lunch.

She was worried they might face unbearable silences or awkwardness or that the two simply wouldn't get along but after the initial bump in the road they got along quite nicely.

Daniel's youth got the better of the overprotective son part he'd tried to play earlier. The two had been talking and laughing and playing like they hadn't just met, like they'd known each other for much longer than a few hours.

David's easy-going nature and quick smiles tended to have that effect on people though. And she wasn't all too surprised that he and Daniel responded so well to each other. David had always wanted to be a father. He spoke about having children long before she decided she was ready for one. Two, she corrected quickly. She felt a sharp pang of guilt and sadness at the thought of having forgotten Henry. Even if only for less than a second.

…

"Should we make popcorn?" he hummed, fingers thrumming on the countertop as he contemplated it.

Regina laughed as she turned to face him. They'd just cleaned the dishes from dinner. David had ended up spending the entire day. Daniel was in the living room picking out a movie to extend his stay by another few hours. It was a request they'd both given in to. Regina because she wanted him there, it was the longest she'd seen him since the coma. And David because well… She assumed his reasoning followed hers.

"I'm surprised you can still eat after all the food you two gorged on earlier," she said, thinking of the hotdogs. And nachos. And salsa and tortilla chips. And ice-cream. And brownies.

"You should know by now that this-" he patted his stomach "-is a bottomless pit."

"It is a wonder you've managed to retain such a physique given your eating patterns."

He gave a mock gasp and pretended to be offended. She shook her head and laughed.

"Today was… perfect," she said sincerely. "Thank you. For coming over. For getting to know Daniel. I think he had fun today. And so did I," she added at the expression she'd come to understand meant he was inquiring about her.

He smiled a bit at the last part. "I had fun too." David came a bit closer. "Thanks for inviting me. For letting me meet your son. Daniel is… He's great. You did such an amazing job with him. He's so smart and quick and witty and funny, _funny_. I never knew ten-year-olds could have such a good sense of humour."

They laughed quietly. She missed Henry and was momentarily saddened by his absence. He noticed.

"Maybe next time it'll be the four of us," he said hopefully.

No. Henry would never agree to that, she thought. She put the thought away.

"They're like dynamite when they're together," she told him. "When they were little and just discovered April Fools Day they used to play all sorts of pranks on me. They weren't very good," she said with a confessional sort of tone. "So it fell to me to show them up and teach them about it, through pranking them of course."

"Of course," David laughed.

"It sort of became a family tradition, trying to see who'd come up with the best one."

"Who won last year?" he asked curiously.

Her smile was just a bit sad. "Henry." She cleared her throat. "He replaced my laptop, keyboard, mouse, telephone and all the pictures in my home office with cardboard cutouts and mock-ups of them. We had a good laugh about it. Then I got to work and saw he'd done the exact same thing. My assistant helped him. He called it a 'tech-upgrade'."

David laughed. "That must have taken a while."

She nodded. "Truth be told I don't know where he got the time to do that or how he was so secretive he managed to pull it off without Daniel knowing about it. It was quite impressive."

"What was?" Daniel asked.

They looked to him. Sneaky little cretin, she thought with a smile. He stood in the entrance to the kitchen, arms over his chest and that overprotective look on his face as he stared at David. She realised how close he stood then and took an almost unnoticeable step away from him.

"I was telling David about Henry's prank last year."

He rolled his eyes. "I still think mine was better." He seemed to remember something. "Come on," he said impatiently. "The movie's set up and _you_ really need to see it." He looked directly at David.

"Coming, kiddo," he said with a laugh. He reached back for her hand as he followed Daniel and held onto it as they sat down.

"What's this?" he asked, as he looked at the screen.

"You missed out on quite a bit. I'm going to introduce you to the great stuff." Daniel smirked over his shoulder. "This is Harry Potter." He hit the play button.

…

"It's kinda cold in here," Daniel said, hugging himself through his blue coat.

Regina touched his head. "You can wait in the car if you want?" she offered.

"Yeah, okay." He lifted his hand in a wave. "Bye David."

"See ya, kid," he said.

The door shut behind him and the two were left facing each other. Regina rubbed her arms over her coat. "It is cold in here. I'd forgotten about that."

"It gets warmer once the fire's started," he reminded.

She nodded absently, memories clouding her eyes, and he smiled a bit.

He stepped forward. "I can't believe you named him after me," he said through a disbelieving little laugh.

Her eyes snapped to his. "What?"

"Henry David Mills."

Her eyes widened a bit before she breathed out, "He... He told you?"

He shrugged. "It just sorta came up. That and Daniel Howard Mills." He gave a soft hum and smiled at the way she averted her eyes. "Thanks. It's… It's nice to have a namesake, I guess."

He looked at her tenderly. He wanted to reach forward and hold her face in his hands, to kiss her. Since they'd spent the entire movie next to each other, since she rested her head against his should, he'd wanted to kiss her. If he was being honest with himself, he'd wanted to kiss her from the moment she opened the door. He shook away those thoughts and shrugged off his jacket to put on the coat rack in the cabin.

"Howard?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged. "He was my father's brother. He died a few weeks before I turned fourteen. He was… He was a really good uncle. He taught me to ride horses, gifted me Rocinate, gave me my first bow along with a quiver of golden tipped arrows. He had extravagant tastes," she explained at the way he raised his eyebrows.

"Cora hated his influence on me," she laughed. She was quiet for a few seconds. "She made me choose between the two after he died. Archery or horse-riding. I chose the latter."

He frowned. "I never knew you had an uncle."

"I haven't thought about him in years," she admitted. She looked away for a second. "It… It was easier to… to tell myself that… that it was all bad. My life. To only remember the bad times. I suppose I used it as a way to justify everything I did."

She looked at him again and tried on a fake smile. He could feel her closing herself off from the topic.

"But that's simply not true," she said. "Nothing is ever fully good or bad. Nothing is ever really that simple. My childhood included."

"You get to be mad," he said firmly, eyes on hers. "Everything you've been through… Everything she did to you... You get to be mad about it. A few good moments doesn't make up for all the bad."

"I know that," she breathed. "But it doesn't validate everything I've done either, the lives I've taken, the people I've hurt. It… It doesn't excuse all that."

He shook his head slowly. "I never said it did. I just don't want you to beat yourself up about it anymore. I want you to forgive yourself."

She sucked in a deep breath at those words. He'd said those words before, granted he didn't know the magnitude of her sins, but now he did and he still said it, he still meant it. Regina shut her eyes. She couldn't bear to look into his any longer, those gullible blue eyes that refused to see the worst in her. She dropped her head onto his shoulder.

"You're such a good person," she mumbled against him.

His arms came around her. "So are you." He touched her head. She hugged him back, arms tight.

David held the back of her head and lower back to him and breathed in deeply. He placed a kiss to the side of her head and stepped back.

"It's strange," he said, "and it's probably gonna take some time getting used to not waking up next to you."

A brief look of pain came over her face. "It took a while for me," she admitted.

He cupped her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight, Regina."

Her eyes were still closed when he pulled back. She opened them slowly. "Goodnight, David."

She looked like she wanted to say something else, instead she just gave a brief smile, turned and left.


End file.
